An Icy Wind Blows
by Proforce
Summary: Story 5. Ash's route to Cinnabar takes him through Seafoam Islands. Striking off alone, his life quickly falls into danger. Can Pikachu save him without revealing her secret? Questions answered, only for more questions to be asked. R&R please.


"An Icy Wind Blows"  
Author: Robert Brown  
  
Disclaimer: This story uses characters created and copyrighted by Nintendo,  
Game Freak, and/or 4 Kids Inc. (except where noted, in which case   
they were created and copyrighted by me or by another and I have  
permission to use them). The author hereby gives permission for   
this story to be downloaded and/or printed at 1 copy per user as   
long as (1) no changes to the story are made without my express   
written(not e-mailed) permission and (2) no attempt is made to   
profit from this story. If either or both rules are violated, it   
will be considered a violation of copyright law.  
  
Author's Note: Hel-lo. Long time no write. It's Francis here, Robert's co-  
author in everything but this. Believe it or not, I actually wanted to write   
this Author's Note, even though I don't help with these stories at all ( will  
wonders never cease ).   
I would like to apologize for the length of time it took to get  
this story out. I would like to say the pace will be picked up, but I'm not   
going to lie to you. Both Robert and I are going through tough times at the  
moment. So it is kinda hard for us to concentrate on story writing.  
In addition, we are writing three storylines. Of course, the  
Pokémon stories at : fanfiction.net  
  
Rescue Rangers stories at: fanfiction.net; and   
a-strange-website.com/RRData/RRindex.htm   
  
and Sonic stories which are on Tyro's website at :   
www.franken.de/users/deco/index.html  
  
All these stories and more are at :   
www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Satellite/6616/index.html  
  
We are also working on a fourth storyline( and don't bother asking either one   
of us what it is 'cause we're not going to answer )so it will take us a while  
to finish each story.  
  
Finally, I'd like to thank all our readers for their patience  
and understanding. We will try to get these stories out faster, but no   
promises.  
  
Note from Robert: To clear up a bit of confusion, even though this is an   
alternate universe based on the end of the first US season, I'm using ages I   
think are a bit more appropriate for what's going on. In my stories, Ash is   
13, Misty 14, Brock 16, Jessie & James 20. I also think these were the ages  
when the show first appeared in Japan. If anyone has any information   
regarding this, please pass it on by review or by e-mail (ProforcePF@aol.com)  
Thanks in advance. Oh yeah, Pikachu's human form will have the same age as  
Misty. :] Also, I'm assigning all pokémon a male or female gender. I know  
not everyone will agree, but then not everyone agrees that Pikachu is female.  
*shrug*  
  
#5  
  
"FINALLY!"  
A flock of pidgey were startled into the air by the unexpected cry in  
the nearby fringe of the forest. The few pidgeys who cared to stick around to  
see the cause of such a disturbance were witness to a young red-haired girl  
running excitedly out of the forest with a togepi in her arms. "Finally!"   
she repeated, coming to a stop at the sandy shoreline mere yards from the   
forest. "Oh, the water looks so beautiful! Don't you think so Togepi?"  
"Prii!" Togepi trilled, happy that her mom was happy.   
"Hey Misty, wait for us!" Ash called as he caught up to her, Pikachu  
perched on his shoulder as was normal. He had been released from the Pokémon  
Center just as Pikachu returned to from wherever she went. He'd asked her  
about it, but Pikachu was uncharacteristically quiet about the whole thing and  
had actually asked him to drop it. Ash couldn't help feeling a bit hurt about  
it, but did as his best friend had asked. Besides, the excitement of closing  
in on a new badge had sent electricity singing through his veins.  
Ash paused in his thoughts at that. Electricity really was running  
through his veins, he realized, and he needed to be careful. Though he had  
pokémon-like powers, he had no pokéball in which to rest. If he overused his  
powers before reaching Cinnabar Island, he might not make it there at all.  
He thought back to his time in the recharger. He'd been aware of what   
was going on, he just couldn't believe it was working. After he had been   
fully healed, he'd contacted Professor Oak to let him know that the gamble had  
paid off. Professor Oak hadn't seemed too surprised, and said that he'd   
personally contact every Pokémon Center in the Indigo League to tell them of  
Ash's situation. Ash hadn't liked that idea one bit, but Professor Oak had  
assured him that all the Nurse Joys were trustworthy and wouldn't reveal his  
secret.  
A hand on his shoulder made him jump. "Waa!" he exclaimed, looking   
around in surprise.  
"Easy Ash, it's just me," Brock said, taking a step back as a yellow  
glow momentarily surrounded Ash's hand. "You'd better call out Lapras or   
Misty's just going to start swimming there."  
"Oh yeah, right," Ash said, pulling Lapras' pokéball off his belt. "I  
choose you, Lapras!" Ash's new lapras appeared in a blaze of white light,   
cooing happily. "Hey Lapras, can you take us all across the sea to Cinnabar  
Island?"  
Lapras nodded her head, lowering her flipper to the sand so that Ash and  
the others could climb aboard. Misty was the first aboard, nearly knocking   
Ash to the ground in her excitement. "Wow Misty," Ash said after making sure   
Pikachu had not fallen from his shoulder, "you'd think you were the one going  
after a badge."  
"This is nothing about a badge Ash," Misty said. "I'm just so glad to   
finally be on the water again."  
Ash chuckled and climbed up behind Misty with Brock just behind him.  
"Let's go Lapras!" he called, pointing across the sea.  
"Pipika!" Pikachu called, pointing in the same direction Ash did. She  
had to admit, Ash's excitement was contagious, and she was looking forward to  
the upcoming gym battle almost as much as Ash. She felt stronger somehow   
since her encounter with the Gem, as if making her wish had added to her power  
as well as giving her human form when she wanted it.  
Lapras lifted her flipper and floated off, sailing quickly toward   
Cinnabar Island. The trip was pretty uneventful so Ash and Misty let their  
other water pokémon go to enjoy the water alongside Lapras. Brock had been a  
bit nervous about Misty letting Gyarados go, but the huge water serpent had  
merely swum alongside Lapras, enjoying himself by breaking through some of the  
larger waves.  
The trip continued peacefully until Misty stood up suddenly. "I'm going  
for a swim," she announced, slipping her suspenders off her shoulders.  
"Are you sure that's safe?" Brock asked, arching an eyebrow while   
looking at Gyarados.  
"Oh please," Misty smirked, sliding her shorts off to reveal a pair of  
pink bikini bottoms. "No water pokémon we have would ever hurt me." She  
stripped off her yellow tank top to reveal a matching pink bikini top. She   
held her arms out to the sides to get her balance and then dived gracefully   
into the water with hardly a splash.  
Only when she disappeared beneath the water was Ash able to blink. He  
had seen her in that bikini before, but this was the first time it affected   
him in this manner. But then, he was now seeing her in a whole new light. He  
had yet to work up the courage to fully admit it to her, but he was absolutely  
in love with Misty. "We really need to have that talk," he muttered to   
himself.  
"Pikapi?" Pikachu asked, perking her ear up toward Ash.   
"Oh, nothing Pikachu," Ash said, ruffling Pikachu's fur between her   
ears.   
"Chaa," Pikachu said, settling herself down in Ash's lap. She knew what  
Ash was referring to, but little did he know that she intended to have a talk  
with him of her own. "It will have to wait until we get to Cinnabar," she   
thought, starting to imagine how that talk might go.  
A loud roar tore her from her imaginings and made her tense up, ready   
for battle. But it was only Gyarados diving under the water with Misty   
hanging onto one of his scales. "You need to relax Pikachu," Ash said with a  
chuckle. "Keep this up and you won't have any energy left for the Cinnabar  
gym."  
Pikachu smirked up at Ash and then smiled mischievously. "Chu!" she  
whispered, shocking him with a low-voltage Thundershock.  
"Oh, you wanna play like that?" Ash asked, sending a light Thundershock  
of his own into Pikachu.   
Pikachu's ears perked forward as she returned the Thundershock. They  
continued back and forth like this for a few moments, unaware of what was   
occurring behind them. Just as Ash was ready to use his Thundershock again,  
a hand pushed his shoulder hard, sending both him and Pikachu into the water.  
"Hey!" he yelled, surfacing with a splutter.  
"Sorry Ash," Misty said with a giggle. "I just couldn't resist."  
"It's not funny!" Ash said, scowling as Pikachu yelled her agreement.  
But then he got the same mischievous look that Pikachu had had just a moment  
before. "But I know what will be."  
"Oh no," Misty said, picking Togepi up and holding her in front of her.  
"You're not gonna shock me. Not while I'm holding Togepi anyway."  
"That's playing dirty," Ash grumbled.  
Misty's smirk turned to a look of shock as Brock casually lifted Togepi  
out of her hands and shoved her into the water with an ungraceful splash. The  
moment she surfaced and cleared the water from her eyes, she found herself   
face-to-face with Ash. "Now Ash," she began, swimming backward away from him,  
"you wouldn't really want to hurt me, would you?"  
"Of course not Misty," he said, an evil grin firmly in place as he   
closed the gap between them. Reaching out suddenly, he grabbed hold of her  
shoulder.  
Misty flinched and held her breath, expecting to get dunked. But all  
Ash did was hold her shoulder. She opened her eyes carefully and looked at  
Ash. When she saw the gentle smile on his face, she relaxed and returned it,  
never noticing the yellow glow around his hand until she felt the shock course  
through her body.  
Coughing up a puff of smoke, Misty lay back in the water and floated  
quietly. Then she felt a touch on her other shoulder and turned to look.  
Pikachu was there, an evil grin mirroring Ash's as sparks crackled about her  
cheeks. "No...." Misty wailed frantically while shaking her head. But   
Pikachu just nodded as she sent a shock of her own through Misty's body.  
"Sorry Misty," Ash said with a chuckle as Pikachu swam to his shoulder.  
"We just couldn't resist."  
"Very funny Ash," she muttered, diving under the water to go swim with  
Gyarados some more. She wasn't really upset, she knew she'd asked for it.   
But still, it would've been nice for Ash to have let her get away with it.  
"Not that I know why he would," she though, grabbing hold of Gyarados  
and letting herself be pulled through the waves alongside Lapras. "It's not  
like I'm his girlfriend or anything. Not that I don't want to be...." she  
amended mentally. Maybe when they got to Cinnabar she would be able to get  
him to herself for a few minutes so that they could have that talk they needed  
to.  
She spent another half hour in the water before climbing back onto   
Lapras and towelling off. She noticed that Ash was shivering slightly in the  
sea breeze as he hadn't been able to change from his wet clothes and felt a  
pang of guilt. But when she tried to give him her towel, he declined and told  
her she needed it more. Whether it was from actual caring, stubbornness, or a  
mixture of both Misty didn't know, but it touched her all the same.  
The rest of the trip was spent in relative quiet. But it ended a lot  
sooner than they thought it would as Lapras and the other pokémon came up   
against an impassable line of shoals and reefs. "What the...?" Ash asked,  
confused. "Brock, how do we get around this?"  
"Hmm, let me see here," Brock said, looking through his guidebook. "We  
take the sea route to Cinnabar, turn there, pass through Seafoam Islands....  
Wait a minute," the breeder said, doing a double take. "Pass through Seafoam  
Islands? I thought it said pass by Seafoam Islands."  
"Seafoam Islands?" Misty said, her eyes shining with excitement.   
"Isn't that where all the rarest water pokémon live?"  
Brock nodded as he continued to read through the guidebook. "Yeah, but  
the caves are so vast it could take days to explore them. We'd better just  
take the tourist's route so we can make Cinnabar by nightfall. Otherwise   
we're sleeping on the beach for sure."  
"Sleeping on the beach?" Misty sighed and shook her head. "Let's just  
get to Cinnabar then."  
"Are you kidding me?" Ash asked as he pointed Lapras in the direction   
of Seafoam. "There's no way I'm passing up this chance to grab some new   
pokémon. Especially ones I'm going to need."  
"Are you crazy Ash?" Misty retorted, her voice raising a few notches,  
"there's no way I'm going to sleep on some rocky beach just so you can try to  
catch some pokémon."  
"Oh, I will catch them," Ash swore, his voice now a little louder than   
Misty's. "And I will win my next badge with them. Think about it Misty, the  
Cinnabar gym is a fire gym. You of all people know that water is the best   
thing to put out fire."  
"Even though I'm glad you're using your brain for once, that's no excuse  
to make me miss out on my beauty sleep!"  
"Like you really need it?" Ash asked, then blushed bright red as he  
realized what he just said. "B-Besides," he stammered, "I'll find all the  
pokémon I need and still get through it in enough time to make it to Cinnabar  
today."  
"Well I'm not willing to take that chance," Misty yelled, jumping off  
Lapras as she made to the shore of the first Seafoam Island. "We're taking   
the tourist's route and that's final!"  
"You go and take it then," Ash said, recalling Lapras and Squirtle to  
their pokéballs. "I'm going to catch me a pokémon. Come on Pikachu!"  
"Ash, wait a minute!" Misty yelled, but Ash was quickly out of sight.  
"Oh, he makes me so mad," she fumed. "Well, if he thinks we're just going to  
wait around for him...."  
"...He's absolutely right," Brock concluded. "Besides, you know you'd  
never leave the love of your life, now would you?" he asked while ducking the  
expected kick. "Come on, if we hurry, we can get a decent campsite cleared on  
the other island before Ash gets through."  
"Oh, all right," Misty said, fuming slightly. But her anger was soon  
replaced by worry as fear started to settle in her stomach. "Be safe out   
there Ash," she whispered, following Brock along the tourist's route.  
Ash ran down the marked path until the tunnel opened up into a wide  
cavern. "Wow," Ash thought, looking at the many rivers and waterfalls, "Misty  
sure doesn't know what she's missing."  
"Pikaaaa," Pikachu sighed, touched by the beauty of it all.  
"Gong!" A loud call sounded to the side. Ash and Pikachu jumped back   
and turned to look. A dewgong was lazing about against one of the rocks,   
keeping a wary eye on Ash.  
"A dewgong!" Ash exclaimed, turning his hat around as he pulled out his  
pokédex.  
"Dewgong, the sea lion pokémon," Dexter reported. "Stores thermal   
energy in its body. Swims at a constant eight knots even in intensely cold  
waters."  
"Perfect for a fire gym," Ash said, a smile on his lips. "Go Pikachu!  
Thunderbolt!"  
"Pi...ka...chu!" Pikachu yelled, launching her thunderbolt at the  
dewgong.  
"Dewgong!" the water pokémon yelled, flipping behind the rock he was  
leaning against before the Thunderbolt could strike and swimming hard up the   
river.  
"You're not getting away!" Ash said, running after him, hopping from   
rock to rock. Pikachu followed close behind, using her agility to keep her  
footing on the slick surfaces. "Come back here!"  
"Pika pika!" Pikachu yelled, loosing another thunderbolt. The dewgong  
dodged to the side, just missing the electric attack.  
"We gotta keep up Pikachu!" Ash said, taking more chances with his   
jumps but still managing to land safely. But he was so focused on following   
the dewgong that neither he nor Pikachu were keeping track of just how far   
into Seafoam Caverns they were delving.  
As Ash chased after what he hoped would be his newest pokémon, Brock and  
Misty emerged from the other pathway. "This is a pretty nice spot," Brock   
said, walking over to a flat, sparsely grassed area.  
"Not as good as a room in the Pokémon Center," Misty grumbled as she set  
Togepi down on a nearby log and helped clear a circle of flammable materials.   
"I swear, Ash always does stuff like this without any regard for us. You'd   
think he'd at least care about my feelings. But no, all he's focused on is   
winning his next badge."  
"And that's exactly why you love him," Brock said, interrupting Misty's  
tirade. "Face it, if he wasn't this intense and passionate about his dreams   
and on pokémon in general, you wouldn't love him half as much as you do. It's  
who he is Misty."  
"Yeah," Misty admitted with a half-sigh, then her face turned bright red  
as she realized just what she had admitted. "Don't you dare tell him what I   
just said."  
"If you don't by the time we leave Cinnabar, I'm going to," Brock said,  
and Misty could sense the promise behind those words.   
Misty lowered her eyes and concentrated on getting a fire set up. "I'll  
tell him after we land at Cinnabar," she swore to herself.  
Meanwhile, after a long, tiring chase, Ash and Pikachu had finally lost  
sight of the dewgong. "No sign of him anywhere," Ash muttered. "Great, now   
what am I gonna do?"  
"Pika?" Pikachu asked, then shivered as a cold wind blew past her.  
"Brrr, that's cold," Ash said, zipping his jacket up partway against the  
frigid cold. He turned his back to the wind and gathered Pikachu in his arms.  
"How'd it get so cold so fast?"  
Pikachu snuggled into Ash's jacket and poked her head out. Then, over   
the wind, a strange and haunting song could be heard. "Pikapi!" Pikachu   
said, tapping Ash to get his attention.   
"I know, I hear it," Ash said, turning back to face the wind and holding  
his arm up to block some of it. "Let's see where it's coming from." He made   
his way slowly toward the source of the song, mindful of the slick coating of  
ice below his feet.  
As he turned a corner, Ash found himself faced with a beautiful sight.  
A large bird, as blue as the clearest water, stood on a solitary ledge,   
singing a mournful song. "It's amazing," Ash breathed, reaching for his   
pokédex out of instinct.  
"Articuno, the freeze pokémon," Dexter reported. "A legendary bird   
pokémon that is said to appear to doomed people who are lost in icy   
mountains."  
"Articuno, one of the three legendary pokémon," Ash realized. "I can't  
believe I'm actually seeing it!"  
Articuno's head whipped around at Ash's cry, her eyes narrowing   
dangerously. She knew what it meant for a trainer to be here: another battle,  
more pain, more pokémon taken from their home. Well, not this time. This  
time she would make sure this human felt all the pain that had been afflicted  
on she and its friends time and again.  
Ash was so caught up in admiring Articuno's beauty that he did not see  
the offensive stance Articuno was taking. However, he did notice when   
Articuno fired a blizzard right at him. "Wah!" he yelled, diving to the side  
and twisting so that he didn't land on Pikachu. The entire ground he had been  
standing on was now coated in a thin layer of ice. "What did you do that   
for?" Ash demanded, clenching his fists.  
Articuno didn't care to answer the boy as she fired an ice beam at him.  
Ash dived to the side again, but this time landed on the ground that was   
already iced up. He flailed wildly to keep his balance, but it was no use as  
his feet slid out from under him and he plunged into the icy water. "Lapras!"  
he yelled, fumbling for the pokéball on his belt as the current dragged him  
away. "I choose--!" His cry was cut off as the back of his head hit a rock  
protruding from the water, knocking him nearly unconscious.  
Articuno gave a cry of her own and set off to pursue the human, but the  
current had pulled him into a tunnel too small for her to follow. But it was  
no matter. No one knew these islands better than she did. And so she flew   
off, navigating the confusing maze of pathways, knowing exactly where she   
would find that trainer.  
At that exact moment, outside of Seafoam's exit, Misty felt pain course  
through her head. She moaned in pain and dropped her plate of food, not   
caring or recognizing that she had done so. "Misty, are you all right?"   
Brock asked, setting his own plate aside and hurrying over to her.  
"Ash," she mumbled through shaking lips. "Ash is in trouble. I can   
feel it."  
"Are you sure?"  
Misty fixed Brock with her gaze, her eyes as intense as he had ever seen   
them. "Brock, I've never been more sure of anything in my life."  
"But how are we going to find him? And what if you're wrong and we miss  
him on the way out?"  
"I'm not wrong," Misty insisted, bundling Togepi into her knapsack and   
pulling out two pokéballs. "Staryu! Starmie!" she yelled, releasing the  
pokémon in two bright flashes of light. "We have to get to Ash, and this is   
the quickest way."  
"All right," Brock said dubiously, but quickly grabbed onto Staryu at   
the glare Misty gave him. "Let's go find Ash."  
"Please be all right," Misty whispered, holding onto Starmie as the  
starshape pokémon cut easily through the strong river current.  
Deep within the Islands, caught in the raging river, Ash's limp form was  
barely keeping above water, thanks in large part to Pikachu. She'd managed to  
wriggle free from his jacket and had her teeth latched onto the back of his  
jacket, keeping them both afloat as best she could. Just when it looked like  
she wasn't going to be able to do it much longer, she spied an alcove that was  
rapidly approaching.  
Pikachu watched as the alcove approached, knowing that she would have  
only one chance at this. Just as it got within range she dug into Ash's   
jacket with all her strength. At the last possible second she used her   
Agility attack, with Ash in tow, and was able to land herself inside the   
alcove. But Ash was still in the current, and in danger of being pulled away  
from her.  
Later on, when all this was over, Pikachu would swear she didn't know  
where the strength came from. But somewhere, somehow, she found it and hauled  
Ash out of the river and into the tiny niche. She fell to her back, utterly  
exhausted and glad that the ordeal was over.  
But in a moment, she realized that the ordeal was far from over. Ash   
was soaked through to the bone, and the chill of the air was starting to set  
into him. He wasn't shivering too badly, but Pikachu knew it was going to  
get worse. She needed Brock and Misty, in the worst way, or Ash might not  
survive this.  
Pikachu fumbled with Ash's pokéballs until she found the one she was  
looking for. Pulling it off his belt, she enlarged it and released the   
pokémon inside. "Squirtle?" Squirtle asked, alarmed and confused by the   
sight in front of him. Pikachu quickly explained the situation to her friend,  
making sure he understood how dire it was. Squirtle snapped to attention and  
saluted her, promising to do his best. He then pulled out his old Squirtle  
Squad shades, put them on, and dived into the river, swimming away with all  
possible speed.  
Pikachu watched him go and then turned back to Ash, dismayed to realize  
the shivering had gotten worse. She opened his backpack up and tried to drag  
his sleeping bag out. Fortunately his backpack was waterproof so the bag was  
dry. Unfortunately she had used so much strength to pull Ash into the alcove  
that pulling out the bag was beyond her current ability and she lost her grip,  
falling backward on her butt.  
"Chu!!" Pikachu swore, growling in frustration. She stood up and   
kicked the bag, only succeeding in stubbing her toe. "How am I going to do  
this?" she asked herself through the pain.  
When the answer came to her she almost hit her head in frustration. She  
concentrated a moment and changed into her human form, though she did have to  
duck her head a little to stand in the niche. With no problem, she pulled the  
sleeping bag free from Ash's backpack and unrolled it.   
But Pikachu still faced a problem. While in those wet clothes, Ash   
certainly wasn't going to get any warmer. But the sleeping bag alone wasn't   
going to be enough to warm him up. No room or materials to build a fire, and   
no room to bring out Charizard. Not that the overgrown lizard would help   
anyway, she reminded herself. Now he wasn't anything like he was as a   
charmander and Ash was trapped in that snowstorm.  
"That's it!" she whispered to herself softly. Immediately she began to  
strip Ash's wet clothing off, piling them nearby. When he was in nothing but   
his boxers, she bundled him into the sleeping bag and slipped in behind him.  
It took a little struggle to zipper the bag up as it was meant for one person  
and not two, but she soon had it snug around them. She then wrapped her arms   
around Ash's chest and hugged him close to her nude body, using her own body's  
heat to help warm him.  
She could feel the change almost immediately as Ash's shivering slowed,  
his body becoming less cold to the touch. The warming had another effect on  
Ash though, and he slowly opened his eyes. "Hmm, what?" he asked quietly,   
his voice slightly hoarse.  
"Ash?" Pikachu asked softly, craning her neck to look him in the face.  
Ash started slightly at seeing the unfamiliar face, but the extreme cold  
and the bump on the head had left his body lethargic and his mind more than   
slightly fuzzy. Seeing the beautiful girl so near to him, especially framed   
in a shaft of light streaming into the niche from an aperture in the roof, his  
addled brain jumped to only one conclusion. "An angel...?"  
"He called me an angel," Pikachu thought, unable to keep the smile from   
her lips. Without being fully aware of what she was doing, Pikachu closed the  
distance between her face and Ash's, pressing her lips to his in a sweet kiss.  
A gentle heat spread through her face and body as she felt him kissing her   
back, and their lips parted with a soft sigh from them both.  
"Rest, my Ash," she whispered as Ash slipped off to sleep. She hugged  
him closer to her and rested her head on his shoulder, hoping that Squirtle   
would return soon with help.  
At that exact moment, Brock and Misty were exploring the Seafoam Caves,  
looking for any sign of Ash that they could find. "Found anything Brock?"  
Misty yelled, her voice ringing clearly throughout the caves.  
"No, not yet," Brock called back, his strong voice echoing off the   
walls. "Don't worry, we'll find him soon."  
"We'd better," Misty whispered fiercely, not even thinking about the  
alternative. She was so focused on her search that she missed the shadow that  
was streaking through the water and heading straight toward her.  
"Squirtle!" Squirtle said, exploding out of the water and nearly   
knocking Misty off of Starmie. "Squirtle! Squi-squirtle squirt!"  
"Squirtle, what's wrong?" Misty demanded. "Is Ash OK?" Squirtle shook  
his head and Misty felt the blood drain from her face. "Take me to him, I'll  
follow you."  
Squirtle saluted and did an about face, swimming powerfully back against  
the current. "Hey, wait for me!" Brock said, urging Staryu to catch up with  
Squirtle and Misty. "After this, I'm not leaving dry land for a year," he  
swore as he held on for dear life.  
As Squirtle led Brock and Misty through the maze of rivers, Pikachu's  
head snapped up. She'd fallen into a daze while holding Ash to her, but now  
her senses were fully alert. Closing her eyes, she listened for what could  
have caught her attention.  
The sound of powerful wingbeats cut through the silence and Pikachu slid  
out of the sleeping bag. Shivering slightly as her naked form was exposed to   
the chill of the cave, she walked to the entrance just in time to see Articuno  
flying down through a hole in the ceiling. "No!" she screamed, taking a step   
backward and knocking over Ash's bag in the process. "You won't take him from  
me!"  
If Articuno could have laughed at this weak human's protest, she would   
have. As it was, she opened her beak in preparation of unleashing a powerful  
blizzard and freezing this human where she stood. But what happened next she  
could neither explain nor understand.  
A yellow glow surrounded the human, making her close her eyes for a   
second. When she opened them, she found herself facing not a pissed off   
human, but a pissed off pikachu! The blizzard forgotten in her surprise, she  
flapped her wings crazily just to stay aloft, never noticing the electric   
charge building around the pikachu's cheeks.  
Pikachu saw the legendary pokémon pause at witnessing her transformation  
and knew she had to take advantage of it. Charging up her electricity until   
she could hold no more, she let loose a powerful Thunder at her enemy. The  
bolt struck Articuno dead in her chest, causing it to cry out with such force  
the very walls shook. When the Thunder faded, the great blue bird of ice hung  
motionless in the air for a second before plummeting to the water below, only  
semi-conscious.  
Pikachu felt something hard nudge her in the back. Transforming back   
into a human, she grabbed whatever it was and hurled it at Articuno screaming,  
"Stay away from us!"  
It was only after the object struck the dazed pokémon that she realized  
what she had thrown. The object was a pokéball, and Articuno was now being   
pulled inside its confines. The pokéball bounced back and landed at Pikachu's  
feet, shaking wildly as the legendary bird tried to free itself. Pikachu   
looked on in a mixture of surprise and shock as the ball shook, expecting it  
to break open at any moment. But it did not, and a soft chime signalled the   
end of Articuno's struggles.  
"Umm, huh?" Pikachu asked smartly. She tried to make sense of what   
just happened, but at Ash's shivering sigh it didn't really matter. She  
stuffed the pokéball containing Articuno back into Ash's backpack and slipped  
back into the sleeping bag behind him. While he had gotten colder again, it  
wasn't nearly as bad this time and he soon warmed in her embrace.  
Only a few moments later, Squirtle jumped out of the water and landed  
at the edge of the alcove. "Squirtle!"  
"You're back!" Pikachu exclaimed. "Did you find them?"  
"Squi squirtle?" Squirtle asked, wondering who the young girl was in  
the sleeping bag with Ash. Then, when he heard Misty surfacing just behind  
him, he ran and dove into the pokéball on Ash's belt to save himself from the  
fireworks that were sure to follow.  
"Misty! Brock!" Pikachu said happily, wriggling out of the bag and  
hurrying up to them.  
Brock took one look at the beautiful, and quite nude, female in front of  
him and promptly passed out halfway into the alcove. Misty, on the other   
hand, wondered who this girl was, where she came from, and why she was in a  
sleeping bag with Ash. Especially with no clothes! And when she noticed  
Ash's clothes in a pile nearby, her wonder turned to a fiery jealous rage.  
"What the hell is going on here?" she demanded, fire almost leaping from her  
eyes.  
"Misty, what's wrong?" Pikachu asked, clearly confused.  
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Misty growled, stepping over a  
drooling Brock. "Where did you even come from?"  
"Huh? Misty, it's me!" Then Pikachu looked down at herself. "Oh yeah,  
I forgot you don't know me like this. One second." A moment of concentration  
later, a yellow glow, and Pikachu was once more in her pokémon form, looking  
up at Misty expectantly.  
Whatever track Misty's mind had been on up to that point completely   
derailed when she witnessed that. She blinked a couple times and sat down  
rather unexpectedly. She was dimly aware of Pikachu talking and gesturing  
wildly, pointing to Ash's clothes and the water. But it was the sudden  
shiver that ran through Ash's body that finally woke her up.  
She looked around again, this time taking in the situation more calmly.  
Ash's wet clothes in a pile. Ash in a dry sleeping bag. Pikachu, as a human,   
in there with him with even less clothes. Ash now shivering without her   
there. "Ash...was going to freeze to death," she whispered, putting all the  
pieces together. "You had to save him by warming him with your own body."  
Pikachu nodded, glad that Misty finally realized what was going on. It  
had taken her a while to realize just why Misty was so mad, and Pikachu knew   
she probably had a permanent blush on her face. "Too bad I didn't think to   
wish for clothing as well," she thought.  
Misty's face set in determination. "OK, Pikachu, wake up Brock for me.  
Get him to recall my pokémon while I get Ash dressed. Oh, and make no mistake  
about it, we are going to have a long talk when we get to Cinnabar."  
Pikachu walked over to Brock and Thundershocked him awake. Brock almost  
leapt up to his feet and looked around. "Where is she?" he asked, looking  
around. "Where is that gorgeous specimen of the female race?"  
"Pika?" Pikachu asked, acting as if Brock was crazy. She tried to get  
Brock to understand what Misty wanted, and it wasn't too hard. That was one  
good thing about being a pokémon breeder, you were able to develop an   
instinctive knowledge of what a pokémon wanted or needed.   
As Pikachu put Brock to work, Misty dressed Ash in a dry set of clothes.  
She couldn't help but blush as she buckled his pants, and she just had to run  
her fingers down his chest as she smoothed down his shirt. "Not the time for  
this," she reminded herself, propping him up against the wall of the alcove.  
It was this movement that woke Ash. "Where...where am I?" he asked in  
a quiet voice.  
"Ash!" Misty yelled, dropping the rolled up sleeping bag and kneeling  
next to him. "How are you feeling?"   
"All right I guess," Ash admitted, wincing as he rubbed the back of his  
head. "Hey, where'd she go?"  
"Where'd who go?" Misty asked, glaring for a moment at Pikachu.  
"That angel who protected me," he said, his voice getting wistful for a  
moment.   
"Don't be silly Ash, you must have been dreaming it," Misty said, not  
looking at Ash as she packed away his sleeping bag.  
"But...I couldn't have," he said softly, touching his fingertips to his  
lips. "She...she kissed me."  
Misty's hands clenched suddenly, and she nearly growled her anger. "We  
need to get to Cinnabar," she said, zipping up his backpack. "Think you can  
travel?"  
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Ash said, shaking a few cobwebs loose. "Come on  
out Lapras."  
Lapras appeared in a blaze of light, glad to be out of her pokéball   
again. After gathering everything together, they all climbed onto Lapras and  
set off. With Brock leading the way, it didn't take long to reach the exit  
where their camp was. A few moments to break camp and they were on their way  
to Cinnabar, each with their own private thoughts.  
Brock was confused. He knew he saw that girl, and it was the first time  
he had ever seen a girl naked before. No matter what happened in his life,   
that image would always remain with him. Now he just had to find her, find   
out who she was. And he wouldn't stop until he did.  
Misty was upset. Ash was nearly killed because of a stupid arguement.  
If Pikachu hadn't been there, she would've lost Ash forever. And then there  
was the little detail about Pikachu somehow being able to change into a human.  
How that was possible completely mystified her. But what upset her most was  
that Ash and Pikachu had apparently kissed each other on the lips. There was  
definitely going to be some girl talk between the two once they got to   
Cinnabar. She was going to get her answers.  
Ash was guilty. He wasn't sure of a lot that happened after Articuno   
forced him into the water, but he was sure that the girl, angel or not, had  
watched over him and cared for him, not to mention given him his first kiss.  
He had wanted it to be with Misty for as long as he'd been interested in   
kissing. And now, whoever that girl was had taken it away from her. And so  
his heart was heavy, and his mind on anything but the impending Badge battle.  
Pikachu was ecstatic. She had kissed Ash, as she had always dreamed.  
And he had even kissed her back! There had definitely been some electricity  
in that kiss, and she knew all about electricity. The only thing she was   
worried about was Misty. She was nearly as close to Misty as she was to Ash,  
and a small part of her felt like she had betrayed her trust. But she had to  
know if Ash could ever see her that way. That's why she made her wish after  
all. And if nothing else came of it, she would always treasure the memory of  
her first kiss. 


End file.
